Facebook Moves Mobile Users to Separate Messenger App

Facebook Moves Mobile Users to Separate Messenger App

Daily Real Estate News |
Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Facebook users who use their mobile device will now need to download a separate Facebook Messenger app to send and receive messages from the social network. Facebook is diverting mobile messages from its main mobile app through its separate Messenger app.

If you try to send a message using the main app, you’ll now receive a notification message to download the separate Messenger app on your device instead.

The messenger app will be removed from the main mobile app to avoid “confusion of having separate Facebook mobile messaging experiences,” says a Facebook spokesperson. While the messenger icon will remain on the main app, if you click on it, you’ll be rerouted to the separate Messenger app.

Facebook touts that its Messenger app boasts more features. For example, the Facebook Messenger app includes free messaging, a "selfie" button for video sharing, a quicker photo-sharing interface, and group messaging support, and is reportedly 20 percent faster and more reliable than the main app’s chat system.

More than 200 million people use Facebook Messenger per month and send 12 billion messages per day, according to Facebook.